Cape Census office manager advises people to check worker ID badges

When Census Bureau field workers start hitting the streets in force beginning in March, residents should make sure that the person claiming to work for the federal headcounting agency has the proper identification, the local Census office manager said Wednesday.

In response to concerns raised by a caller to the Southeast Missourian, office manager Jeff Mansfield said every person sent out to deliver census forms or complete census questionnaire should be wearing an official identification badge with their name and job title clearly visible.

At the same time, Mansfield said the local office at 623 S. Silver Springs Road is still looking for full- and part-time workers to fill the approximately 1,000 temporary jobs for crew leaders and enumerators who will be wearing those badges.

"Actually our major push right now is recruiting," Mansfield said.

Most people shouldn't be seeing a census worker at their home this early in the year, Mansfield said. There are a few census employees currently visiting group homes to obtain answers to this year's questionnaire and a small number of people may be visited by a permanent census worker for the regular community profile updates, but the big push won't come until next month, he said.

The badge, which is a little larger than a driver's license, has lettering in blue that says "U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census" with the commerce department seal, he said. Red lettering identifies the job title and name of the worker, he said.

There is no reason to allow a census worker inside a residence, he said.

The hard work will begin next month, when enumerators and crew chiefs begin delivering the 10-question census forms to "non-city style addresses." Most census forms will be mailed, but some people in rural locations with older-style addresses, such as route and box numbers, may receive theirs in person, he said.

Enumerators will follow up by attempting to contact residences that do not return census forms in the mail, he said.

Pay for census jobs in Southeast Missouri starts at $10 an hour for 15 to 40 hours a week. Many employees will need to work nights or weekends to find people at home, Mansfield said, so the jobs are ideal for students, retirees or people with fixed hours at other jobs. The bureau will be flexible in scheduling and pay mileage for any travel required, he said.

Employees will be assigned to work as close as possible to their homes, he added.

To find out more about census jobs or to begin the application process, Mansfield said prospective workers should call 866-861-2010. A civil service test is required.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address

623 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, MO